Human Resource Management (HRM) at a glance

Human Resource Management 

Human Resource Management (HRM) definitions or guide at a glance:

Term	Definition
Person-organization fit:	The congruence between individuals and organizational factors
Phased retirement:	Approach in which employees reduce their workloads and pay
Physical ability tests:	Tests that measure individual abilities such as strength, endurance, and muscular movement
Physiological symptoms	Characteristics of stress that manifest themselves as increased heart and breathing rates, higher blood pressure, and headaches
Placement:	Fitting a person to the right job
Plant Closing Bill	Also known as WARN, requires employers to give sixty days’ advanced notice of pending plant closings or major layoff
Plant closing law	The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires notifying employees in the event an employer decides to close its facility
Plant-wide incentives	An incentive system that reward all members of the plant based on how well the entire group performed
Plateauing	A condition of stagnating in one’s current job
Point method	Breaking down jobs based on identifiable criteria and the degree to which these criteria exist on the job
Policies:	General guidelines that focus organizational actions
Portability:	A pension plan feature that allows employees to move their pension benefits from one employer to another
Position Analysis Questionnaire	A job analysis technique that rates jobs on 194 elements I six activity categories
Positive Reinforcement	Providing a pleasant response to an individual’s actions
Post-training performance method	Evaluating training programs based on how ell employees can perform their jobs after they have received the training
Prearrival stage	The socialization process stage that recognizes individuals arrive in an organization with a set of organizational values, attitudes, and expectations
Predictive validity:	Measured when test results of applicants are compared with subsequent job performance
Preferred provider organization (PPO):	A healthcare provider that contracts with an employer group to provide healthcare services to employees at a competitive rate
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)	An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits sex discrimination based on “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions”
Pre-post training performance method	Evaluating training programs based the difference in performance before and after one receives training
Pre-post training performance with control group	Evaluating training by comparing pre- and post training results with individuals who did not receive the training
Preretirement counseling	Employer-sponsored counseling aimed at providing information to ease the passage of employees into retirement
Primacy effect:	Information received first gets the most weight
Primary research:	Research method in which data are gathered firsthand for the specific project being conducted
Privacy Act	Requires federal government agencies to make available information in an individual’s personnel file
Procedural justice:	The perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make decisions about employees
Procedural justice:	Perceived fairness of the process used to make decisions about employees
Procedures:	Customary methods of handling activities
Production cells:	Groupings of workers who produce entire products or components
Productivity:	A measure of the quantity and quality of work done, considering the cost of the resources used
Profit sharing:	A system to distribute a portion of the profits of the organization to employees
Programmed instruction	Material is learned in highly organized, logical sequence, that requires the individual to respond
Protected class:	Individuals within a group identified for protection under equal employment laws and regulation
Psychological contract:	The unwritten expectations employees and employers have about the nature of their work relationships
Psychological symptoms	Characteristics of stress that manifest themselves as tension, anxiety, irritability, boredom, and procrastination
Psychomotor tests:	Test that measure dexterity hand-eye coordination, arm-hand steadiness, and other factors
Public policy violation	Prohibiting the termination of an employee for refusing to obey an order the employee considered illegal
Qualifications inventories	Manual or computerized systematic records listing employees’ education, career and development interests, languages, special skills, and so on to be used in forecasting inside candidates for promotion
Quality circle:	Small group of employees who monitor productivity and quality and suggest solutions to problems
Quid pro quo:	Sexual harassment in which employment outcomes are linked to the individual granting sexual favors
Quota strategy	Employment strategy aimed at mandating the same results as the food faith effort strategy through specific hiring and promotion restrictions
Railway Labor Act	Provided the initial impetus to widespread collective bargaining
Ranking method	The simplest method of job evaluation that involves ranking each job relative to all other jobs, usually based on overall difficulty
Ranking method	Rating employees from highest to lowest
Ranking:	Listing of all employees from highest to lowest in performance
Rater bias:	Error that occurs when a rater’s values or prejudices distort the rating
Ratification:	Process by which union member vote to accept the terms of a negotiated labor agreement
Realistic job preview	A selection device that allows job candidate to learn negative as well as positive information about the job and organization
Realistic job preview (RJP):	The process through which a job applicant receives an accurate picture of a job
Reasonable accommodation:	A modification or adjustment to a job or work environment for a qualified individual with a disability
Recruiting:	The process of generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs
Red-circled employee:	An incumbent who is paid above the range set for the job
Reduced work hours	A downsizing concept whereby employees work fewer than forty hours and are paid accordingly
Reengineering	Radical, quantum change in an organization
Regency effect:	Error in which the rater gives greater weight to recent events when appraising an individual’s performance
Reinforcement:	People tend to repeat responses that give them some type of positive reward and avoid actions associated with negative consequences
Reject errors	Rejecting candidates who would later perform successfully
Relative standards	Evaluating an employee’s performance by comparing the employee with other employees
Reliability:	Consistency with which a test measures an item
Replacement charts	HRM organizational charts indicating positions that may become vacant in the near future and the individuals who may fill the vacancy
Representation certification	The election process whereby union members vote in an union as their representative
Representation decertification	The election process whereby union members vote in a union as their representative
Responsibilities:	Obligations to perform certain tasks and duties
Responsibilities:	Obligations to be accountable for actions
Restricted policy	An HRM policy that results in the exclusion of a class of individuals
Retaliation:	Punitive actions taken by employers against individuals who exercise their legal rights
Return on investment (ROI):	Calculation showing the value of expenditures for HR activities
Reverse discrimination:	When a person is denied an opportunity because of preferences given to protected-class individuals who may be less qualified
Right to privacy:	Defined for individuals as the freedom from unauthorized and unreasonable intrusion into personal affairs
Rights:	That which belongs to a person by law, nature, or tradition
Rightsizing	Linking employee needs to organizational strategy
Right-to-sue letter:	A letter issued by the EEOC that notifies a complainant that he or she has 90 days in which to file a personal suit in federal court
Right-to-work laws:	State laws that prohibit requiring employees to join unions as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment
Roles	Behaviors that job incumbents are expected to display
Rules:	Specific guidelines that regulate and restrict the behavior of individuals
Sabbatical leave:	Paid time off the job to develop and rejuvenate oneself